St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-03-01
The Commodity Reached 1910 Per
Barrel on the Chicago Board Of
Trade Yesterday,
Which Was an Advance of About So
Over the Quotations Of Last
Saturday.
Tremendous Excitement Among
Operators Who Were Caught by
the Corner.
transactions in the Financial Circles
of Wall Street.-The General
Markets.
rpecial to the Globe.

N lard was engineered by McGeocb and
Wells which came to an unpleasant close for
The frst-named gentleman, was such excite
nent witnessed on change as was seen to-day.
a panic reigned this afternoon and couclus-
yey showed that pork was cornered. Nov
ct havoc do its worst" was imprinted upon
The visages of the perspiring, struggling
brokers' for the great clique. The small fry
yelled themselves hoarse in endeavoring to
avert the ruin with which they were threat
ened, but as their accounts were not long
enough they sank into the great vortex and
the Chicago and Cincinnati crowd had things
their OVID way. Many brokers were unable to
make good their margins and now they are
within an inch of the wall. No one was aware
of the trap about TO be sprung until this at
ternoon. AT . o clock the short board opened
with May AT $3.50, an advance of so cents
per barrel since O'CLOCK. 1t was marked up
while big and excited crowd watched until
$3.50 was touched, making an advance for
the day of So per barrel. Suddenly there
were no bidders and then
THE MARKET COLLAPSED.
A few brokers supposed to represent
Bloom, eXcitedly tried to sell at S19, then ut
$3.50, then at S1S.75 and finally at SIS. There
were not 1000 barrels traded in until the
price was $3.50, drop Of $3.50 per barrel in
an instant. Brokers at once wired their
agents ut all points to ask 4 So margin on all
May pork. There is but little doubt that
Armour, Cudahy and Plankinton are the indi-
Viduals who are working the great deal.
Pretty nearly all the pets are so cliqued now
that an independent trader when he
buys or sells is thrusting his head
into the nav of the machine run by
Chicago clique, or by crowd at Cincinnati
or by clique out on the coast. The heads in
the nav of the machine run by the provision
clique were suffering the worst and the most
this morning. May pork was opened at
$3.50, an advance of 30 cents q barrel over
Saturday close, and sold at $3.50. Ream and
Jones were both in the pit in person, and
working with the greatest nonchalance the
pressure which cut off the margins of un-
fortunates and dropped them into their own
pockets. The crowd took the operation good
naturedly, and there were no kickers. 1t
suggested a comparison-if the deal were
only an Armour one, and if the PRESSURE were
only upon the Jones' Ream- Bloom clique it.
self, what darting about and talking and pro-
testing and fighting! The squeeze in pork
has been so terrific and the
PRES SURE FOR MARGINS
so fierce that it is not any longer desirable TO
have the credit of running it. Both Mr..
Jones and Mr.. Ream were protesting to-day
their innocence of any connection with it.
"If any of my friends" said n. B. Ream,
lever find me running corner in pork or
wheat hope they will either put me in an
insane asylum or in Jail. l have not got
barrel OF pork. I've sold mine all OUT Mr..
n. S. Jones said; Il think that Ream and
are charged with running this corner design
eddy. l am not running any corner and
don't own any pork. have been
trading in it on large scale,
but that 5waS because l thought that
had inside information of a corner which is
being run by somebody else" Both Jones
and Ream are popular, and both are con-
nected with very large and very profitable
COMM ssion houses. If they were running
corner, and it came out, it would greatly af-
feet their reputation as commission men and
seriously effect incomes from that source.
Whether they were running corner" or
we're not, it is natural they should feel anx-
ous about denying the report, for in the one
Instance very serious injury would be done
their business, and in the other not only
very serious injury, but also a very cruel in
Justice. These denals, which were vehe-
nently made to-day, caused a great deal of
Honderment, great deal of mystery and
Iome little incredulity.
THE CLIQUE BROKERS
this morni, g were Orr & Coomes. They took
what pork, lard and ribs were for sale at the
opening. The bulls also were plainly buying
. for the same coterie. May pork was soon
above $lS@l8.10, an advance on Saturdays
close of 81 a oarrel. The estimates on stock
are now that there will be about 155, 900 to
1901 900 barrels of pork. There would not
have been so much if il had not been for this
corner but packers who had overSold hur
eied along the manufacture of 1t during Feb
ruary, and increased the proportion of meats
operators of the clique have broadened out.
On Saturday Ream personally took some mill
ons of pounds of ribs at $7.71@7.S5. To-day
they were selling at IS. The clique brokers
we're also buyers Of lard. May wheat closed
at 1870 There was some wheat at New York
taken for export but neither this nor the big
decrease in visible held the market. AT
o'clock the market for May was down to
TS34c, and the sellers were getting back all
their courage again. The decrease in visible
supply next week is placed at 100000
bushels
THE ROUTINE REPORT.
CHICAGO, Feb. 2S.-The climax Of excite
ment in the provision deal was apparently
reached to- day. The clique which has been
conducting the deal in mess pork succeeded
before the close of the afternoon board, in
advancing the price OF mess pork for May
delivery to S19.1 per barrel, at which figure
few "short" operators settled. The market
then broke off to SIS and closed there tor the
day. The starting sales for May were made
at $1,000 or an advance of SOC per barrel over
the closing figures of Saturday. The market
advanced quickly to S17.10, declined to SIT,
advanced TO Sl7.65, receded to $17.45, adj
vanced irregularly to $3.50, fell off to $3.50,
then advanced without sale to $3.50, made
another clear jump to S1S.75, aud then went
up to $40, and again tosS19.10. When an at
tempt was made to sell a lot of pork at this
figure, the market dropped to $3.50
without a sale and declined to SlS
where it rested. There is no doubt that
May is cornered, but TO what attitude the
price will go is purely conjectural. Several
commission houses refused to execute or
ders i'll pork to-day, owing to the unSatisfac-
tory condition of the market. Lard ruled 10
p2Oc per 100 lbs higher, and short ribs were
lO015c higher. A number of things trans
pired to help the grain list. WheE figures on
stocks began coming in it was soon deter
mined that the decrease in wheat would be
zig one. 1t proved 100000 bushels. On
his and on a fellow-feeling. with prices going
higher all over the room, May advanced to
1870, but within half an hour had reacted to
1870, largely because by that time the life
lad died out of the other markets and selin q
% realize became general The market
closed Mt 1870. Corn moved around more
han usual, being in active sympathy with
pork. From $500 the advance WAS very
neady to $500 Then prices settled
back to 39Ac, and became quit e
iteady. The VISIBLE supply statement
exhibited decrease during the week OF $4,000
bushels.
The leading futures ranged rs follows:
Wheat-No. 2, March, 1214c, closing at 725sc;
May. 7Shc, closing at 1890; June, 1880,
closing at 1870; July, S0s4c, closing at SO7sc.
cornaNo. : March, $3.50, closing at 33Ac;
May, 3S54c, closing at 39H @S93sc; June, 397ac,
closing at 40sac: July. 4O7sc, closing at 4115c.
Oats-No. q March, 2354c, closing at 24c;
May, 2S1ac, closing at 2ss4c; June, 294c,
closing at 291sc. Mess pork, per barrel,
March, $1o.45 closing at S1T.7O; May, $685.,
closing at SIS; June, S17.O5, closing at $ls
Lard per 100 pounds-March, S7.O7%, closing
at 7.l2R: May, S7.25, closing at S7.271a !;
June, S7.271a, closing at S7.32ka. Short ribs
per 100 pounds, March. $3.50, closing
at $7.721a; May, S7.97h, closing at
$3.50; June. S7.971a, closing at $3.50.
Cash quotations were as follows: Flour duh
and unchanged Wheat No. spring, 72JSM
I6c; No spring. re; No. red, 7Ss4@79c.
Corn-No. 2, 34A@36c. Oats-No. 2, 1870